A curated collection of premium specialty teas, offering a spectacular experience with tea as an art form. Small batch and hand-selected by our founder for truly unique flavors and craftsmanship by expert tea masters, this uncommon selection is bound to impress connoisseurs and novices alike.
TAIWAN LOT
While Taiwan is traditionally known for their high mountain oolong teas, which are shaped into tight-knit balls that unfurls and infuses gently over time, the dark horse of the tea industry on this beautiful island is black tea. Historically, it was said that the Japanese imported the Indian Assam variety into Taiwan, taking the Indian tea seed and planting it in Taiwanese soil. They have chosen the Sun Moon Lake region near the central of Taiwan for its consistent humidity and temperature, while offering dynamic terrains that are about 800 meters above sea level, which are all optimal conditions to breed world-class black tea trees. Bred without pesticides, harvested by hand, and crafted by generations of knowledge and skills, all our Taiwanese black teas are expertly produced from a single origin and clean source.
Comparison 1. Tea Leaves (left to right): Violet Hills, Eighteen Carat, & Formosa Red.
No. 101 VIOLET HILLS
An original Taiwanese wild tea variety produced and harvested in the Sun Moon Lake terroir, this fragrant black tea is highly prized for its honey orchid and cedarwood flavors. A very rare variety that is hardly made available beyond the shores of this wonderful island, this delicate and tasteful premium black is pure in flavor and yields a lovely cup of violet liquor with amber hues.
No. 118 EIGHTEEN CARAT
A crossbreed between the original wild tea varietal from Taiwan and the Myanmar Burma, a large-leaf varietal. Known for its signature dried lychee sweetness and a hint of mint, this black tea has a mesmerizing character that is difficult to emulate. Very easy on the palate with incredible depth and richness that resembles a fresh glass of iced libation on a warm summer night.
No. 120 FORMOSA RED
Produced through a selective breeding process between the Chinese Keemun varietal with the Indian Assam, this bold and robust black tea has all the qualities of a smooth breakfast tea but with minimal astringency and bitterness and ample of fruity sweetness and earthy mellowness, which makes this incredibly well-balanced cup of warmth a true representative of premium Taiwanese black tea.
Comparison 2. Color of Tea Liquor (left to right): Violet Hills, Eighteen Carat, & Formosa Red.
Although these three teas in the collection is from the same region of Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan and possesses similar appearances in terms of their leaf shape/size and color of tea liquor, the flavor profiles are poignantly different. That is primarily due to its varietal (since ALL teas are produced from the same plant species of the camellia sinesis) and not their production style (black teas are essentially produced with the same method worldwide). Choose one or all to steep deeper into the wonderful subtleties of natural, pure loose leaf tea.
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